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Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HWP) and BEA Systems Inc. (Nasdaq: BEAS) announced on Wednesday a broad strategic alliance as part of HP's e-services initiative. Reportedly, the purpose of this alliance is to provide HP's and BEA's customers with a complete software infrastructure for building reliable, high-performance e-commerce solutions and integrating enterprise applications. According to the companies, the alliance represents a $100-million (US$) commitment from HP to BEA over the next three years for development, sales and support of integrated, cross-platform products and solutions for enterprise customers. The Deal According to Bill Coleman, chairman and chief executive officer of BEA, "This relationship combines the breadth of BEA's application server and EAI middleware solutions with HP's data-center expertise, to provide customers a rich foundation for building and deploying enterprise, mission-critical e-commerce applications." As part of this alliance, the companies reported … [Read more...] about Hewlett-Packard and BEA Systems Announce $100 Million E-Commerce Deal

Nanotechnology is already having an impact on air travel, as evidenced by EasyJet's testing of a nanocoating that will reduce wind drag and fuel consumption. But if current research into new adhesives based on nanomaterials proves effective, the future of aircraft manufacturing could be altered significantly beyond just coatings and into the actual structures of the aircraft. Researchers at the University of Toronto are looking into the use of multifunctional nanocomposites and adhesives that would be used in joining techniques for primary flight load structures and serve a double purpose of providing an early warning system for stresses on these structures and possible future failures. The University of Toronto researchers are working with carbon nanotubes to develop their multifunctional adhesives (smart adhesives) due to their electrical conductivity. Earlier this year, I covered research coming out of MIT that would use carbon nanotubes in a method for detecting internal … [Read more...] about Aircraft Nanocomposites that Provide Early Warning System for Structural Failures

When an earthquake hit California's Napa Valley in 2014, ShakeAlert, a demonstration earthquake warning system under development by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), gave a 5 to 10 second warning. Had such a system been in place in Nepal this month, residents of Kathmandu would have had about 15 to 20 seconds to get out of the most dangerous buildings or take cover where possible. Though it doesn't seem like much, that's also enough time to trigger automated shutdown systems for rapid transit (the experimental system is already tied to the BART transportation network), nuclear power facilities, or semiconductor manufacturing plants. Japan has had an earthquake alert system pin place for several years; it shut down bullet trains and factories when the 2011 Tohoku quake struck and sent cell phone "take cover" warnings. These kinds of systems come at a high price, however. Likely too high for a country like Nepal. The USGS estimates that the cost of an earthquake early warning system for … [Read more...] about A Cheap, Ubiquitous Earthquake Warning System

While predicting earthquakes remains a dream,scientists have developed early-warning systems that give people precious seconds to run out of buildings or take cover. Such systems are in place in Japan and Mexico. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) is testing a system that gave a 5- to 10-second warning when a temblor hit California's Napa Valley in 2014. That kind of warning might have saved hundreds of lives when a 7.8-magnitude earthquake devastated Nepal on 25 April. Earthquake-warning systems come at a high price, though, too high for countries like Nepal and others in quake-prone zones in South Asia, the Caribbean, and Central and South America. But researchers are now working on more affordable, crowdsourced warning systems based on low-cost sensors and cellphone electronics. Today's alert systems deploy networks of hundreds of expensive, extremely sensitive seismic sensors that detect energy waves, along with GPS sensors to detect permanent ground movement due to the motion of … [Read more...] about Cheap Earthquake Warning Systems

In the summer months, I really enjoy riding a bike along some of the flatter roads and trails around my small Vermont town. But sharing some of those roads with cars can be a dicey proposition. There's one dirt road in particular, where no matter how often I scan my mirror or sneak a look over my shoulder, it seems that sooner or later I get surprised by a car zipping by. I've often imagined fitting an ultrasonic sensor to the bike to warn me of incoming traffic, but most of those have a range of less than 10 meters, which is worse than even my mediocre human senses. A lidar-similar to a radar system, but with laser pulses instead of radio waves-would have the longer range I need, but lidars have traditionally been too expensive for my biking needs. This changed last year when startup PulsedLight, of Bend, Ore., announced Lidar-lite, a crowdfunded lidar detector less than half the size of a deck of cards, with a range of up to 40 meters and an accuracy of plus or minus 2.5 centimeters, … [Read more...] about Build an Early-Warning System for Your Bike

In a sign that it is continuing to digest the technology it swallowed with three high-profile purchases last July, Symantec announced an upgrade to the DeepSight Threat Management System, which it acquired with its purchase of SecurityFocus in July.
DeepSight Threat Management System is an early warning system that uses a worldwide network of firewall and intrusion detection systems maintained by more than 19,000 data partners to aggregate and correlate attack data.
The system provides security administrators with analysis of emerging threats, customizing those alerts to a customer's network configuration. The system is designed to prevent or mitigate the effect of attacks with the help of advanced warning and targeted countermeasures, according to Symantec.
[ Watch out for 11 signs you've been hacked -- and learn how to fight back, in InfoWorld's PDF special report. | Discover how to secure your systems with InfoWorld's Security Report newsletter. ]Version 4 of the DeepSight Threat … [Read more...] about Symantec expands early warning system

Changes to Symantec Corp.'s DeepSight Threat Management System announced Monday will add data on computer viruses and worms to an Internet early warning system, providing enterprise customers with the ability to track the outbreaks on the Internet, Symantec said.
Symantec DeepSight Threat Management System Version 5.0 will integrate antivirus submissions to the Symantec Digital Immune System, a move that may help companies get a more comprehensive picture of Internet security worldwide while giving administrators a jump on outbreaks such as the recent W32.Blaster worm in August, Symantec said.
The DeepSight Threat Management System compiles data from a network of 20,000 Symantec partner sites worldwide. Originally a collector of data from IDS (Intrusion Detection Systems), DeepSight has been slowly expanding to cover different types of Internet threats.
[ Watch out for 11 signs you've been hacked -- and learn how to fight back, in InfoWorld's PDF special report. | Discover how to … [Read more...] about Symantec adds antivirus to early warning system

TruSecure Corp. unveiled a new software product on Monday combining software vulnerability detection and remediation using information from TruSecure's IntelliShield threat and vulnerability intelligence service. TruSecure IntelliShield Early Warning System (EWS) is a threat management system that is intended to simplify network security management by matching up software vulnerability alerts from TruSecure's IntelliSheild service with affected systems deployed on a network, according to the company. Alerts from IntelliShield are fed to an EWS device at the customer site throughout the day. That device then scans the network for systems affected by the alerts, said Mike Rothman, vice president of marketing at TruSecure. [ Simplify your security with 8 password managers for Windows, MacOS, iOS, and Android. Find out which one prevails in InfoWorld's review. | Discover how to secure your systems with InfoWorld's Security Report newsletter. ]Administrators decide which computer assets … [Read more...] about TruSecure announces early warning system

The U.S. federal government will join a gaggle of antivirus companies and public-private groups in warning citizens about virus outbreaks such as the recent Mydoom e-mail worm and other online threats, according to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). DHS unveiled a new National Cyber Alert System, which will use e-mail warnings and bulletins to provide U.S. citizens and others with timely information on warnings about virus outbreaks, online scams, computer software vulnerabilities and advice on computer security best practices, the agency said Wednesday. The alerts will come in two forms: one for computer security experts and the technical community, and one for nontechnical computer and Internet users. Individuals can sign up to receive the alert by visiting the U.S. Computer Emergency Readiness Team, or US-CERT, said Amit Yoran, director of the National Cyber Security Division within DHS. (See: http://www.us-cert.gov) [ Security expert Cricket Liu lays out the workings of a … [Read more...] about DHS unveils cybersecurity warning system

It has always been hard for a single business to gather the intelligence necessary to prepare for the depredations of hackers, virus creators, and worm writers. Suddenly, you’re faced with having to update your systems with too little time to plan, no time to test, and the knowledge that you may have already been invaded through vulnerabilities you couldn’t fix in time. Symantec’s DeepSight Threat Management System 5.0 service can get you the information you crave. It relies on both expert analysis as well as data gathered from around the globe to provide intelligence and early warnings about attacks, vulnerabilities, and even tentative probings. DeepSight alerts you immediately if a threat reaches a set threshold, and provides the details needed to respond quickly. Using DeepSight is straightforward: You get log-in information from Symantec and enter either of its two DeepSight Web sites. The Alert Services site is designed to warn you when there is activity that … [Read more...] about Symantec’s early warning system shines

Automobile repairs and recalls annoy manufacturers as much as they do consumers, adding billions annually to their business costs. IBM hopes a new bundle of software and services it has developed will help auto manufacturers cut their warranty costs by deploying an analytics-based early warning system. The company is at this week's AutoTech conference in Detroit to talk about its work over the past 18 months developing the product. "We've estimated that it can take more than 250 days from the time a problem is identified in a dealership to when information about that problem gets back to the supplier, vendor or [manufacturer] that had a hand in designing that part," said Linda Ban, the global automotive leader of IBM's Institute for Business Value team. "If you can correct a problem in day 245 rather than day 250, that's five days more in which that problem is not reported." IBM's staff has been working closely with truck manufacturer International Truck and Engine Corp., a unit of … [Read more...] about IBM works on automotive warranty early-warning system

I often recommend that my clients set up and use a honeypot, and not just because my last book was entitled Honeypots for Windows. Honeypots are any non-production computer asset set up only as a target for hackers and malware. A honeypot is usually a PC, but it could be a Cisco router, Ethernet switch, or HP JetDirect card. Many people think honeypots are non-necessary devices used by security administrators to track uberhackers. And while that’s partially true, today I recommend that every company use one or more honeypots. Why, you ask? Because all computer security defenses will fail. Your firewall will fail. Your anti-virus software will fail. Your IDS and all of your employee education will fail, if not once a year, then several times. That being the case, step two is to get the fast notification that your defenses have failed. [ Intel, Apache, Amazon, and more: See the 2017 open source rookies of the year. | Cut to the key news in technology trends and IT breakthroughs … [Read more...] about Honeypots as an early warning system

IBM recently released a new IBM RedPaper that is titled and describes Integrated Virtualization Manager on IBM System p5. Abstract: The IBM Virtual I/O Server Version 1.2 provided a hardware management function called the Integrated Virtualization Manager (IVM). It handled the partition configuration on selected IBM System p5, IBM p5, and IBM OpenPower systems without the need for dedicated hardware, such as a Hardware Management Console. The latest version of VIOS, 1.3.0.0, adds a number of new functions, such as support for dynamic logical partitioning for memory and processors in managed systems, task manager monitor for long-running tasks, security additions such as viosecure and firewall, and other improvements. [ The InfoWorld reviews: Ubuntu 16.04, a desktop for Linux diehards and Ubuntu Server 16.04 LTS shines. | Stay up on open source with the InfoWorld Linux report. ]The Integrated Virtualization Manager enables a more cost-effective solution for consolidation of multiple … [Read more...] about Integrated Virtualization Manager on IBM System p5

A U.S. Appeals Court handed down a ruling this week that, at first blush, gives the public free reign to overflow a company's public email and voicemail systems in the name of a legitimate cause, even if they are intentionally hindering the company's ability to do business in the process. Companies would be well served to pay attention to the ruling, which continues to flesh out the arguably vague U.S. Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. It means that, while they may be legally protected from such activities as malicious hacking and spamming, they can't legally prevent people from using public communications channels -- such as email and phone -- to protest a company, even if their tactics amount to a well-orchestrated DoS-style attack. Whether the precedent set by the ruling should be viewed as a victory for proponents of free speech or for bad guys looking for loopholes to wreak havoc is best left to the beholder. [ Roger Grimes' free and almost foolproof way to check for malware. | … [Read more...] about Court: Clogging email and voicemail systems can be legal

There are many ways to move files between Unix and Windows. In my mind, they fall into three categories -- secure copy (let's not even think about ftp), shared drives, and file synchronization. Each has its own advantages. Secure Copy For secure copy, we have scp and sftp commands. Native to Unix systems, both commands are available for Windows as well. I use pscp (PuTTY's scp) which you should find in your PuTTY folder (e.g., C:Program FilesPuTTY or C:Program Files (x86)PuTTY) if you have PuTTY installed. I make sure the folder is in my Windows search path so that I can access it from any directory and then run commands that work just like scp on Unix: C:Usershs> pscp myfile.txt [email protected]:/home/shs Works like a charm. The command will ask for your password and move the file or files specified. Wild cards are acceptable. Just remember that text files moved from Windows to Unix systems will retain their carriage returns and those coming in the opposite direction will lack … [Read more...] about Moving files between Unix and Windows systems

With a new set of hardware and software releases, EMC is promising to simplify its customers' storage infrastructure by combining different types of operation into a single EMC system. "We see this convergence of storage with modern systems, where you can think about backup, archiving, and disaster recovery as an integrated process, rather than three separate processes," said David Goulden, president and chief operating officer of EMC. [ Control your storage requirements by eliminating data redundancy. InfoWorld lays it all out in our Deep Dive Report on Data Deduplication. | Find out which storage server prevails in Test Center's NAS shoot-out. | Keep up with the latest approaches to managing information overload and compliance in InfoWorld's Enterprise Data Explosion newsletter. ] [ Discover the key technologies to speed archival storage and get quick data recovery in InfoWorld's Backup Deep Dive PDF special report. | Get the latest insight on the tech news that matters from … [Read more...] about EMC integrates backup, archiving within storage system

Time and Attendance Systems Review Can Time and Attendance Software Help Your Business Save Money? The top performers in our review are TimeClock Plus, the Gold Award winner; TSheets, the Silver Award winner; and ADP for Small Business Time & Attendance, the Bronze Award winner. Here's more on choosing a system that meets your needs, along with detail on how we arrived at our ranking of these 10 time and attendance systems. Staffing is one of the top expenses for small businesses, which is why implementing time and attendance software is a smart move. The American Payroll Association estimates that automating payroll saves a business two percent or more per year on payroll expenses. It does this by helping your staff record their time and attendance with greater precision and by giving you the ability to sync or import the data into payroll, saving you the time it takes to manually enter timesheets into a payroll system and eliminating potential errors that may be introduced in the … [Read more...] about The Best Time and Attendance Systems of 2017

The earthquake that struck Japan early this morning was the worst seen in that country for over 300 years (with a local magnitude of 8.9). Hundreds have been killed and injured so far, but the loss of life was likely limited by two vital early warning technologies: a new earthquake alert system, and ocean-based tsunami warning system. The earthquake warning system, which has never been triggered before, automatically issued alerts via television and cell phones shortly after the first, less harmful, shock wave was detected, providing time for many people to prepare for the more powerful shock wave that followed. It also caused many energy and industrial facilities, and transportation services to shut down automatically. A string of detection buoys in the Pacific Ocean detected the tsunami that resulted from the earthquake, sending warnings of possible catastrophe to many different nations. Here are some good resources that will help you learn more about both warning systems. The … [Read more...] about How Japan’s Earthquake and Tsunami Warning Systems Work

At about 3am on 8 October last year, an asteroid the size of a small house smashed into the Earth’s atmosphere over an isolated part of Indonesia. The asteroid disintegrated in the atmosphere causing a 50 kiloton explosion, about four times the size of the atomic bomb used to destroy Hiroshima. The blast was picked up by several infrasound stations used by the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization to monitor nuclear tests. No-one was injured in blast but the incident highlights the threat that planet faces from near Earth asteroids. Astronomers expect a strike like this once every 2-12 years. And the US congress has given NASA the task of sweeping the skies to identify anything heading our way. So far NASA has looked for objects of a kilometre or more in size and determined that none of these is on track to hit Earth in the foreseeable future. But what of smaller objects? Various estimates show that an impact with an asteroid just 50 metres across would cause some … [Read more...] about Asteroid Impact Early Warning System Unveiled

The death of thousands of people following Monday’s earthquake in Sichuan, China, has once again called attention to the need for technology that provides better warning of such devastating natural events. While China lacks an earthquake early-warning system, it is hardly unique. Such systems are still very much works in progress: Japan, Mexico, and Taiwan are deploying them, but most other nations, including the United States, are still in the research stages, says a leading seismologist, Haroo Kanamori. Earthquake alert systems furnish only a few seconds of warning, but that can be enough time for people to take protective measures. And more research and investment would improve the systems’ speed and the efficiency with which the warnings are distributed, Kanamori says. The principle behind earthquake early warnings is fairly straightforward. Earthquakes begin with tremors called P-waves that have short wavelengths and generally do little damage; they may not even be … [Read more...] about China Lacks Earthquake Early-Warning System